US-EU TTIP

Posted on: 23/02/2015

The eighth round of TTIP negotiations took place in Brussels between 2-6 February after a four month hiatus, with talks centering on proposals for ‘regulator to regulator discussions’ in order to drive regulatory convergence on both sides of the Atlantic. The European Commission has posted on its website the following additional documents relating to negotiations for on the Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership.

The proposed Investor- State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions for TTIP continue to cause much consternation. Ms. Malmström emphasised the need for ISDS to feature in TTIP, and called on those who support this to speak up more. We understand that a new formulation of an ISDS clause may exclude a ‘future profits’ provision in order to assuage critics who fear governments may not regulate in the public interest for fear of prosecution. Lord Livingston reminded the audience that the UK had been party to Free Trade Agreements which had included ISDS clauses for an aggregate of 2000 years and had yet to lose a case.

The next round of negotiations will take place in April in Washington DC. The EU may well push for an energy chapter in the agreement due to the growing vulnerability many EU Member States feel toward Russian energy supplies.

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